The concept of a super-weapon has dominated military thought and development since the beginning of warfare. From spear to bow, ballista to cannon, Greek fire to gunpowder, and from black powder to dynamite, human beings have sought increasingly deadly ways to achieve victory in war. The rapid discovery of the secrets of the atom, beginning in the late 19th century and intensifying in the first four decades of the 20th century, resulted in a crash program – a veritable race – to develop and deliver the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. The success of that effort saw an initial test followed by the first military use of the new bomb in 1945.
The atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in early August 1945 forever changed warfare in a way that no other weapon in history had done. For the first time, humans had created a weapon that could, in its ultimate form, devastate the planet and quite probably destroy all life on earth. The military, political, and social implications of a weapon known simple as “The Bomb” have profoundly affected civilization ever since. This is the story of the beginning of that new era in human history and of the weapon that changed not only warfare, but also global society and international politics.
A number of colleagues and institutions provided information, advice, reviews, and support through the years. I would like to thank Roger Meade of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lloyd Graybar, Jonathan Weisgall, Gregg Herken, Norman Polmar, Hugh Gusterson, Betty Perkins, Jack Niedenthal, and Ed Linenthal on matters of the bomb, defense, and Bikini. I would also like to acknowledge the support of those veterans of the Manhattan Project, the 509th, and Operation Crossroads, especially the late Woodrow Swancutt, Leon Smith, Bob Henderson, Ernest Peterkin, Dick Laning, Enders Huey, Hank Arnold, Lewis Talley, Alvin Brommer, Edward Clevenger, George Culley, Harold Demarest, and W. R. Dill.
I thank my National Park Service colleagues in the Submerged Resources Center, the History Division, and the National Historic Landmark Program for their support when I was working with them on the Bikini Atoll project – Ed Bearss, Rowland Bowers, Jerry Rogers, Dan Lenihan, Larry Murphy, Larry Nordby, Jerry Livingston, John Brooks, Candace Clifford, Kevin Foster, Harry Butowsky, Jim Charleton, Robbyn Jackson, and Steve Haller. Thanks also go to those who made the initial and later trips to Bikini informative and adventurous: Fabio Amaral, Len Blix, John Brooks, Werner Zehnder, Ken Hiner, Eric Hiner, Catherine “Kitty” Courtney, Lee McEachern, George Lang, Edward Maddison, Kane Janer, Al Giddings, Roger Joel, Wilma Revlon, John Lajuan, Dave Campbell, Mike Messick, Harry Nashon, Stephen Notarianni, Bill Livingston, Jeanne Rawlings and Bill Robison.
The following organizations and institutions were also a great help: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; US Department of Energy Archives, Las Vegas, Nevada; US National Archives, Military Branch and Still Pictures Branch, Washington, DC; US Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC; the Library of Congress, Washington, DC; the National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC; the US Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland; White Sands Missile Range, Alamogordo, New Mexico; the Los Alamos Historical Society, Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The review and editing of my assistant, Kathy Smith, once again made the task of writing easier. I owe her my usual debt of gratitude. I also wish to thank the Osprey team, especially Jaqueline Mitchell and Ruth Sheppard. Last, but not least, I thank my wife Ann for her constant support and love.
James P. Delgado
August 2008